I'm doing a little research (big surprise, can you tell two of our cars are apart?) and keep coming up with more early Ford contest info. This account is about a contest held in 1908 in Minneapolis. The second day ....well you can read about it.

The winner of the rain soaked event is a Thomas Flyer 40hp and the second and third place finishers are Ford sixes (says 30 hp, of course we know Ford only offered 15 hp N/S or 40hp K at this time). If you notice, the top K driver in each story is George Doerr. He has the fastest heat time in the 1906 account, but is unable to go against the second heat winner. I wonder if he was a Ford agent? And, if he still has a 1906 K in the 1908 race?

If George Doerr was a resident of Minneapolis, I may be able to look up his Minneapolis license plate number (my dad has an original public directory of Minneapolis automobile owners through June 1908). I believe he is the George Doerr that was an officer with the Minneapolis Drug Company.

If he still owned the Model K in 1909, it is possible to look up his Minnesota license plate registration in the original ledger at the Minnesota Historical Society (1909 was the first year for state issued plates). The serial numbers were usually, but not always recorded so it may be possible to obtain the serial number.

Although the last article says Minneapolis, the automobile races at Hamline were actually held at the horse race track at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds during the fair. The fairgrounds are located in what was originally Hamline township but is now Falcon Heights, a suburb of St. Paul.

Here are racing heavyweights Walter Christie and Ralph DePalma at the Hamline track in 1908. I don't know the story behind J.A. Clark.

That's a real monster Christie was driving. He went on to design a tank for the US Army, but they would not have it, so he helped the Soviets build it - the T-34, which mauled the German Tanks in WWII, which in turn killed the US Shermans in great quantities.

A lot of prominent Minneapolis residents in all those newspaper articles, such as the Pillsburys - too much information for me to elaborate here on the forum.

I actually have photos of A.T. Rand's Autocar mentioned in the last article above. The Rand family owned the Minneapolis Gas Light Company. My dad knows a relative of the Rand's chauffeur. Last summer, my dad was loaned a family photo album which included photos of the Rand cars and we identified the year of the automobiles and researched the license registrations.

A.T. Rand owned larger and substantially more expensive cars including a Royal Tourist and a 1904 Pope Toledo. The Autocar was actually owned by his son, Kennith Rand who was 12 years old in 1903.

The photos below were taken at A.T. Rand's lake home in Ferndale, which is an area in the town of Wayzata on Lake Minnetonka.